A doctor alleging Healthways sent illegal advertising faxes urged a California judge Monday to certify a class of 10,000 health care providers who got the faxes, arguing that whether the company had permission to fax them is a question that can be decided on a classwide basis.

During a hearing in Los Angeles, Scott Z. Zimmermann, representing named plaintiff Edward Simon, urged U.S. District Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell to certify a class of 10,000 health care providers who allegedly were faxed advertisements from Healthways Inc. and medical technology company Medversant Technologies LLC without their permission, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.